Intrinsic
by Pierides
Summary: Little moments, stars in the sky, but they wove together into a tapestry that humbled and outshined any costellation. :A series of drabbles.:


_A/N: This is a characterization exercise for me in preparation for a Coraline alternate universe fic I will be writing and posting, hopefully if school permits, soon. All ideas where in are my possessions, please. I ask that you don't take any of them without my expressed permission, because I don't want to see a mirror copy with only the places, names, or other small detailed changed after all the time and effort I took to create it. The only idea that's borrowed is the concept of the Cat being more than a cat. This idea was inspired by Kiss of the Breeze and because my world is my own, I'm not encroaching; she's said as much. Otherwise please ignore my ramblings and enjoy these one sentence prompts inspired by the Livejournal 1sentence community._

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_**#01. Walking**_

Arion strode gracefully through the halls, in the courtyard, steps light and agile like the feline he favored for form; Coraline picked her way quickly despite her speed ethereal and pixie-like, at least so mused Arion.

_**#02. Waltz**_

Coraline blinked, only manners could halt the gaping of her mouth in surprise as she stared at Arion who gently held her slender waist in his large hands, "You've never danced a waltz?"

_**#03. Wishes**_

A shooting star sped across the dark sky, causing sapphire eyes to alight on the movement; Arion recalled his mother telling him that wishes made upon a star came true, and wistfully he turned his head to stare into the room whose adjoining balcony he stood on: Coraline's.

_**#04. Wonder**_

Coraline straightened as the messenger entered the castle and handed a letter to her Queen, but after taking the sealed envelope and watching the lad off the elder woman turned her and held out the letter; spindly writing clearly denoted the sender and her intrigue grew: _Arion_.

_**#05. Worry**_

He didn't open his eyes, he didn't trust himself, but Coraline had asked him to shift in front of her; what if she was horrified—he'd seen that reaction before—but then he felt her hand on his frayed ear and his heart began to slow back to normal and he purred in relief.

_**#06. Whimsy**_

She couldn't stop herself, she would feel silly later on, but she had nothing to lose now and besides Arion was sleeping—looking every bit the lazy cat he was portraying all the while—so she tiptoed to him and laid a little kiss on the top of his nose.

_**#07. Waste/Wasteland**_

That woman knew no moderation and Arion realized this as he looked upon the burning homes and the scorched ground that was now a land of graves and death—Queen Beldam had to be stopped, this was sickening and he made himself take flight otherwise he was sure he would screech and attack the remainder of her forces which could serve as a foolish move.

_**#08. Whiskey and rum**_

She shook her head, already feeling the world spinning and lurching around her—she wasn't even standing up—but Arion tipped the cup at her lips and filled her mouth with the vile liquid, "I'm sorry, but the bone needs to be set and it's better if you're too far gone to remember the pain."

_**#09. War**_

It was always a symphony of destruction accented by the smell of blood, death, and salty tears; Arion would never fully understand why this was the price of expansion and change; it hardly seemed fair, especially to those who were the sacrifices.

_**#10. Weddings**_

Coraline watched the new Duchess of Rinstand lock hands with her husband, the Duke; it was all for wealth, status, and glory and it disgusted her; how come no one else saw how horrid a life that was, yet someone did and he stood by her side watching her expression cloud with a knowing and sympathetic smile.

_**#11. Birthday**_

He laughed at the question Coraline posed after he had informed that the day was his birthday, "I'm twenty-five," he shook his head at her expression, "I'm a Rakshasa, not an elf; I'm a human gifted with the art of shape changing, so I age at a normal rate, nothing special about it."

_**#12. Blessing  
**_

"Are you quite sure, Arion, I don't want to intrude," Coraline bit her lip, but Arion grabbed her hand and shook his head with a smile, "You're not intruding; my mother and father will feel blessed that a woman is finally coming to dinner with me."

_**#13. Biased**_

He was meticulous, hardworking, and to all appearances productive; cats were not viewed in that way and so, swayed by that unspoken personification, he liked being a cat: he was pampered, gentle, and to all appearances lazy.

_**#14. Burning**_

Fire flashed across her vision, seared her skin, and she screamed, bolting upright in her bed as the dream faded away, or so she thought until her nose detected smoke and she saw the flames from her window—Damascus was burning.

_**#15. Breathing**_

Her lungs inhaled and expelled the air quickly as she heard the chaos around them, but Arion's breath was slow and gentle; how could he be so calm, so confident with the clinking of mail and boots just above them?

_**#16. Breaking**_

The crank was slowing, the ticking was more prolonged, and the child was stained with blood; to Coraline he looked like a castaway toy with his glazing eyes and slowing heart until, like the snuff of a candle, the light vanished from him—he wasn't like a toy, though, Coraline wept: he couldn't be fixed.

_**#17. Belief**_

She believed in many things both spoken and unspoken: God created the heavens and the Earth, the color purple was the product of mixing red and blue dyes, and love was a state beyond the existence of riches and status—love knew not of these things and if it did, it didn't care.

_**#18. Balloon**_

He watched the shaped cloth fill with the hot air and then observed as it was tied and it began to float raising higher and higher in the sky, yet prone as he was to musing, Arion knew that it could only float so high and be filled up so much until it burst, but the human heart, though able to be filled like a balloon could never be too full of love or hate.

_**#19. Balcony**_

Coraline stood, arms relaxed against the railing as she stared out at the moon and stars, but curiosity made her shift after moments of silence and she turned to the raven-haired Arion, "Why did you bring me out here," but instead of answering immediately he just smiled, eyes seeming to reflect the moonlight.

_**#20. Bane**_

Arion purred happily in his feline form and settled on the cushions atop the bed; he could use a nap, but a soft, foreign meow him deterred from that course momentarily and he glared at the tawny cat in the doorway—Queen Lovat's cat again; he was beginning to think the creature had a crush on him and he hoped his hiss proved just how much he didn't return it.

_**#21. Quiet**_

The estate was eerily silent as always—that's what came of being an unwed duchess—but tonight it felt especially quiet because Arion was not there to make the hush disappear with a sudden meow.

_**#22. Quirks**_

She was unwed and a duchess, she wore breeches instead of petticoats and bloomers, and Arion found it all endearing up to the way her nose crinkled when she laughed.

_**#23. Question**_

Those blue eyes asked her, the grip of his hands around her waist beseeched her, the brush of his lips against her knuckles was a query—Coraline knew the answer like the beat of her heart, but the true question between them was should she answer or let him ask the question again in a different way?

_**#24. Quarrel**_

Arion glared at the dark-skinned man, holding no fault with him other than his freshness with Lady Coraline; he had no right to feel jealous, but the emotion was there and he was going to either fight with his mind or find himself in a friendly duel with Prince Wyborne.

_**#25. Quitting**_

Sometimes she thought about reliquishing her title of the Duchess of Arcana because then maybe she could avoid the false tokens of greedy men; sometimes Coraline envied the daughters of bakers who could marry who they chose and not worry about the gossip it would bring.

_**#26. Jump**_

The sharp jolt of his sleeping spot caused Arion to fly into the air with a feline screech; he hit the cold floor as a human (he'd shifted back in surprise at being so abruptly disturbed) before glaring over the edge of the bed at the cat that had jumped up here—could she not leave him alone?!

_**#27. Jester**_

Coraline laughed as Sergei, the cook playfully flirted with the taller of the two castle maids, Miriam—he was always a jokester and Coraline wondered if the man really did like the woman; with that she shook her head, thinking about her behavior around Arion.

_**#28. Jousting**_

He pointed the practice spear and then he and Prince Wyborne spurned their horses; he knocked the younger lad off without an ounce of difficulty and grinned at him—he'd won the mock jousting match, and though it was childish, told himself he was a better man.

_**#29. Jewel**_

It would match her dress perfectly, but it hadn't been there a moment ago: it was a pendant of white gold with a single tear-drop ruby, "Do you not like it Milady," and she froze at the inquiry of Arion's voice—had he...?

_**#30. Just**_

Arion burst through the chamber doors, "Your Majesty, I know how to beat Queen Beldam, we play her game and justly beat her—it will be the sweetest humiliation."

_**#31. Smirk**_

Was Arion naturally cat-like or did his preferred animal shape make him act this way; one moment he was smirking at her and then he leaned forward over the chessboard and practically purred, "Checkmate."

_**#32. Sorrow**_

He closed his eyes so he no longer was looking upon the body of the late Queen of Damascus; his hand fell to Wyborne's shoulder as the young man cried deserving to do so the loudest of everyone in the room—it was the young prince who had lost the most in this war.

_**#33. Stupidity**_

Coraline launched herself into the empty courtyard and laughed freely spinning around in a cascade of leaves that was falling from the trees, but her joy quickly became muted when she saw Arion watching her—suddenly she felt beyond foolish.

_**#34. Serenade**_

His humming blended with the sounds created on the lyre by his moving fingers and he lost himself in the music, yet by the end he was lost in Coraline's eyes as she listened intently to him, genuinely interested.

_**#35. Sarcasm**_

She was an alright swordsmen, but Coraline's main weapons were her mind and vocal chords; she had made many a lady at court glare ruefully at her—Coraline: Duchess of Witticisms.

_**#36. Sordid.**_

Arion mewled angrily at the woman, a being who gave visual to the term "Black Widow": vile, spindly, and sadistic—the Queen of Melanthe, Dio Beldam.

_**#37. Soliloquy**_

Coraline rolled her eyes at Queen Beldam as she spoke—the only reason they weren't attacking the verbose woman was because it was against conduct to attack a person while their back was turned, and damn it if her back wasn't turned!

_**#38. Sojourn**_

Everyone was celebrating, but Arion just couldn't put his whole heart into it; his eyes flickered to the figure of Coraline who was joking with Sergei across the table and his heart fell even more as he realized his mandatory stay in Damascus was over and soon he'd be returning to Oreste.

_**#39. Share**_

This Arion, a traveler from a distant kingdom, needed lodgings for the night and by the looks of him was of noble birth, but unwanting to impose on Queen Lovat; Coraline nodded to herself: she had plenty of room at her estate—to hell with the rumors it could cause.

_**#40. Solitary**_

Twenty-five was a ripe age for a man of his status to get married, but Arion hadn't found her yet amongst the Court of Oreste and with his return journey to Damascus ahead of him, maybe could avoid the preening of his mother on the subject for a while yet.

_**#41. Nowhere**_

She was a dove with clipped wings but a heart that longed to fly, yet adventure was not for Duchess Coraline as the Court needed her, or perhaps she cared about the opinions of the harpies there more than she had originally thought.

_**#42. Neutral**_

It was a face Arion had practiced, but even his long training in proper behavior threatened to leave him when _**she **_waltzed into the room.

_**#43. Nuance**_

He did not notice her as she stepped into the library, peering in at him, but she was almost lulled into thinking perhaps he was aware of her presence as she watched him and his voice became softer and gentler as he read the words of lovers in the book he had been reading aloud—he hadn't once allowed his eyes to stray, though, and she left almost positive he was none the wiser of her secret vigil.

_**#44. Near**_

What Arion was about to do was against every rule of conduct he had ever learned, but nothing could be done—the night was cold and the cabin they had taken shelter did little to protect them from the chill—and he pulled Coraline's quivering body to his, embracing her in his warmth.

_**#45. Horizon**_

He had seen the horizon often times and in many forms, but never had he witnessed it with as much gratitude and regret as he did then; he turned and looked at the slumbering Coraline and knew they'd have to move soon.

**_#46. Natural_**

Coraline took a deep breath, straightening her skirt beneath her bodice and then turned and walked from the room; she was a woman and tonight her poise was called upon, but so was her heart and she knew only without a mask could she hope to conquer.

_**#47. Valiant**_

They were praising her, calling her brave, but Coraline didn't feel like she deserved such an honor—after all it had been Arion's idea to be thrown into Dio's face so he could be a distraction for her.

_**#48. Virtuous**_

She knelt before the alter as Arion watched from the Cathedral entrance; he heard her begin her prayers and closed his eyes, silently worshiping himself.

_**#49. Victory**_

Trumpets sounded, people rushed from their homes to greet the returning party, and Coraline smiled from the head of the line atop a white steed as she witnessed celebration and the honor of a hero's welcome—the kingdom of Melanthe had fallen.

_**#50. Defeat**_

Dio was gone, but he did not feel victorious; he watched from beside Prince Wyborne of Damascus as the beloved Queen smiled weakly and then closed her eyes: "I knew you'd save us," had been her last words.

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**_Originally 45 was Natural and 46 was Horizon, but the scenes flowed better with them switched so I switched the numbers._**


End file.
